Project: The Communities of Practice Project
Grant: £54,000 

Liverpool Charity and Voluntary Services (LCVS) is a registered charity that seeks to improve the well-being of individuals and communities in Liverpool through supporting and encouraging charitable giving and voluntary action. LCVS provides support, advice, training, networking and representation for individuals and charitable organisations across the City region. It also claims to have helped donors distribute over £4 million every year to charitable organisations. The organisation’s main focus is on health, education, income stability and culture, which it considers the cornerstones to the well-being of individuals and stronger communities. The aim of the project is to help VCSE organisations in the North West explore how social investment might help them meet their objectives by supporting business development, increased social impact and sustainability. The project will use established Community of Practice (CoP) learning partnerships of local VCSEs to explore issues identified by recent LCVS research. They will consider income generation ideas and how social finance could help organisations to achieve greater financial resilience. The sessions will also address gaps in information, skills or experience that organisations face in developing enterprise-based services as well as potential capacity building obstacles such as legal models for delivery, charging policies and evaluation.